


We Go Forward

by springbreeze



Category: Senyuu.
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-03-26 03:04:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 10,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3834634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springbreeze/pseuds/springbreeze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Under the sky and amidst everything beneath it, these lives are ours to live." A collection of Senyuu drabbles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A collection of Senyuu drabbles, usually to be updated in groups of ten. Featuring all characters from all parts/volumes, so spoilers everywhere. ...Biases towards Albatrossrukicrea though.

(Part 3 – Alba, Sion)

Slumped over a pile of papers at the desk, there is not even a flutter of movement from Alba as Sion walks up noiselessly behind him, a red pen in his right hand and the heavy textbook in his left. Just as he raises his arm and elevates the textbook to its highest point, Alba stirs. Sion freezes in place as the half-asleep hero lifts his head, blinking owlishly up at him.

“…Soldier…?”

The title is one Sion has not heard in a long, long time. And even though it is merely the silly, sentimental, nostalgic, dreamy mumblings of a slacking prisoner, a small smile finds its way onto Sion’s face as he brings the textbook down in a heavy blow.

“What is it, hero?”


	2. Chapter 2

(Pre-Part 3 – Alba, Sion)

“You know,” Alba began, tapping the pen against his cheek. “I’ve always wondered something.”

“You should be wondering how you’ll complete the next problem before time is up,” Sion replied without looking up, flipping a page in his book.

“You didn’t say anything about a time limit!”

“I made one just now.”

“No fair!” Shaking his head quickly, Alba continued. “A-Anyway, I was just wondering… Why’s the Mana Maker-kun blue? It’s a flame, right? I mean, flames are usually red.”

“Apologize to the Mana Maker-kun this instant for calling it something as lowly as a flame.”

“I’m sorry?!”

“…But now that you bring it up, I suppose I’ve never thought of it. Rchimedes’s Maker-kun was blue in the first place, and I simply created mine from his notes.” Closing the book, Sion sat back in his chair to stare at a spot on the wall, and Alba did not miss the distant look in his eyes. “Who knows what he was thinking then.”

“Mm.” Alba set his pen to the paper again, mechanically scrawling out notes, but his mind was elsewhere now.

_The First… Mana Maker-kun… Creasion… Crea-san… Ruki’s dad… Negative… emotions… Ah. Blue._

The pen stopped moving.

_Maybe… Like the color of tears?_


	3. Chapter 3

(Part 3 – Albatrossruki)

“I really, really love you!”

“H-Huh!?” Alba dropped the mug, ignoring the shatter on the floor as he and Sion both stared at the girl incredulously. “W-What did you say, Ruki?”

“Teehee.” The lilting giggle echoed throughout the jail cell. The third Demon Lord rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet, a wide smile stretching across her face from ear to ear as she repeated loudly, “I said, I really, really, really love you and Ros-san!”

She could practically see the steam issuing from Alba’s tomato-red face, while Sion had turned away immediately after her second enthusiastic declaration. “What brought this on?” Sion asked in a low, surprisingly steady voice, and Ruki caught sight of the bright crimson tips of his ears poking out through black hair.

“No reason.” Ruki giggled again, more softly this time, even as Alba began to splutter a chaotic mix of confusion and embarrassed appreciation and Sion stubbornly refused to turn around.

_Reasons to love you?_

_I’ve never needed such a thing!_


	4. Chapter 4

(Part 1 – Alba, Ros)

“Thank you!”

“What?” Ros glanced at the boy staring up at him, a strange sort of determination blazing in his eyes. “Are you a masochist?”

“N-No!” Alba shook his head frantically, but his expression did not change. “I just realized that… I don’t really say this often enough. So thank you!”

“…What for?”

“For… a lot of things.” Inhaling deeply, Alba began counting off his fingers. “Thanks for always saving me. Even though I wish you’d do it a little sooner… Thanks for always cooking, somehow, even when we’re camping out. Thank you for showing me how to get rooms at inns. Thanks for always waiting for me to catch up. Thank you for teaching me how to clean my sword. Thanks for stopping that creepy guy in the last city from taking my money. Thanks for giving me some of your share of the food the other night, even though I didn’t say I was still hungry. Thanks for keeping watch at night with me, even when it’s my turn. Thank you for…”

He lost count of how many items Alba continued to list off, but a fluttery, sickening feeling began to settle in his chest and intensify with each one. He wanted it to stop. He wanted the hero to be silenced. He wanted to block his ears, ignore it with all his might, curl up in a ball and shut the entire world out, but it was as if he had been frozen to the spot.

At last, he could take no more.

“…Enough.”

“Thank you for—ack!” Alba found himself facing the ground, a heavy hand forcing his head down. “W-What’re you doing?”

“Stop it.” He could not see Ros’s expression, but the soldier sounded a little strange. “To hear something like that… makes me happy. Very, very happy.” 

Alba brightened and opened his mouth to respond, but in front of him, something small and shiny fell to the ground, landing with a splatter on the grass. And then another. 

That was all, and Alba fell silent.

When Ros spoke again, his voice was quiet, a little cracked.

“So please… don’t ever, say something like that to me again.”


	5. Chapter 5

(??? – Ruki)

Carefully, carefully, she cradled the two items in her hands with all the caution of handling a priceless treasure—though for all intents and purposes, they were just that. Carefully, carefully, she folded the tattered scarf in a neat square, but left one end protruding out, like a little red tail. Carefully, carefully, she polished the crimson jewel in the pendant until it shone, twinkling playfully at her. Carefully, carefully, she pressed a gentle kiss to both of the items, imagining something other than the sensation of soft fabric and chilly metal.

Carefully, carefully, she placed the items before the names of their owners, etched into two cold slabs of stone.


	6. Chapter 6

(Part 2 – Alba)

A flutter of a red cloth in the wind was the monster’s only warning.

In a flash of silver, the orange blur leaped with astonishing agility onto the monster’s back, hacking and slashing every inch it could reach. Rivers of red streamed down and collected into dark crimson puddles at the monster’s feet as it screeched in agony, thrashing in an attempt to fling the attacker off. A simple flick of the wrist shook the blood from his sword, and Alba grabbed one of the horns on the monster’s head with one hand to swing himself up, plunging the sword between the monster’s eyes as a handhold for his landing. 

The monster emitted another scream, clawing at its own eyes as Alba effortlessly drew his sword out and easily evaded the haphazard flailing. He raised the blade again, teeth bared in a snarl and eyes alight in a dark glare as he drove the sword down once more into the monster’s brain.

The monster’s last image was of a small, vicious beast, a furious red fox, lunging in for the kill.


	7. Chapter 7

(SQ – Albatrossruki)

“…We don’t have a knife though.”

“Hero, let me use your sword.”

“No way! Using a sword to cut watermelon is just overkill!”

“Both of you are useless!” Ruki huffed, throwing her arms in the air. A black hole appeared between her hands. “Ros-san!” she called, waving him over. “Can you put half of the watermelon through the gate?”

“Sure.” Lifting the fruit up easily, Ros held the watermelon up to the hole as Ruki instructed. She flicked her hand and the gate closed, leaving a perfectly sliced half of the watermelon in Ros’s hand. “The gate’s pretty useful, huh?”

“Hehe, ‘cause I’m the Demon Lord! Don’t underestimate me!”

“A-Are you sure you’re using your Demon Lord powers for the right cause…?”

“Quiet, Alba-san.”


	8. Chapter 8

(Part 3 – Sion, Ruki)

“Ros-san, Ros-san, Alba-san sure is working hard, isn’t he?”

“Not hard enough. I wonder if he actually wants to stay in jail.”

“Don’t worry a single bit! Once Alba-san gets the basics down, he’ll know everything faster than you can blink!”

“I didn’t say I was worried.”

“Hehe. But you know, it was like this too after you disappeared, Ros-san. I watched him all that time.”

“…Mm.”

“Alba-san went and fought a lot of monsters. It didn’t matter how big they were, or how many. And at first, he’d always get stomped on, or get chewed up, or hurt in some other way. He always said he didn’t care though. He didn’t care as long as he got stronger.”

“…”

“…I got mad at him once, when he was really hurt. I told him no one would care how strong he was if he was dead. I told him that you would think the same thing.”

“He’s an idiot, that’s for sure.”

“A little bit at a time though, Alba-san kept getting stronger and stronger. You know, Ros-san? When they started calling Alba-san ‘Red Fox’, I was really happy. But also a little jealous. Alba-san wasn’t just your hope and mine anymore. He was starting to become everyone’s.”

“…That’s not true, Ruki.”

“Hm?”

“ _Red Fox_ is everyone’s hope. But hero—Alba, is ours. Only ours.”

“…Teehee. You can be unexpectedly selfish too, Ros-san.”

“Well, what can I say? We’re selfish people in a selfish world.”

_A name full of hope._


	9. Chapter 9

(Jailbreak!AU – Alba, Ros)

He slammed a fist on the cold stone floor, again and again, angry tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. “Why…” Alba mumbled, sniffling. “Why did something like this happen… How was I supposed to know she wasn’t wearing anything under her cloak?! All I did was trip and accidentally grab it… Someone… Someone come save me…”

“I’m here to save you!”

“Eh!?” Alba snapped his head up at the sing-song voice standing outside the bars. A young man waved at him with a confident smirk and a jingling ring of keys spinning around his finger. Alba scrambled up and towards the jail door, jaw dropped in utter confusion. “… _Who’re you?!_ ”

“You’re too loud!”

“Ugh!” Doubling over as the man’s fist jabbed him in the stomach, Alba looked back up, coughing. “Wha- What was that for?!”

“Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.” The man chuckled a little, peering into the jail cell. “Goodness, a hardened criminal at your age. What is the world coming to?”

“I-It was a mistake!” Alba yelped. “I’m innocent! A-And anyway… Wait a moment, you’re a prisoner here too, aren’t you?!” Alba pointed to the man’s clothes, identical black and white stripes to his own, with a shaking finger, and moved his attention to the ring of keys. “What are you doing with the keys?!”

“Ah, these? I just happened to find them, so I’m doing a little jailbreak. I came over here because I thought I heard a little girl crying though.” The man ran a hand nonchalantly through his black hair, not bothering to hide a feigned look of disgust at Alba. “Imagine my surprise to find someone like you here instead though. What’s your crime?”

Alba felt a hot flush creeping up his neck. “I-I accidentally… pulled a-a girl’s clothes off…” he mumbled, trailing off, but the man’s bright red eyes widened.

“Uwah, a pervert!”

“I’m not! It was an accident!” Alba protested again, clinging to the bars. “A-And anyway, I’m sure they’ll have everything figured out soon, and I’ll be able to get out of here…”

“Are you an idiot?” The man’s voice had gone icy, and Alba shivered involuntarily. “How naïve can you get? Don’t you know that they execute everyone here, no matter how petty the charge?”

It felt as if a bucket of water had been dumped on him. “W-What…?” Alba gaped, staring at the other man. “N-No way…”

“Forget about getting a fair trial, or having everything ‘figured out’, as you said. Once you’re in here, it’s straight to the gallows with you,” the man continued, a wry expression on his face. “Did you never wonder why people simply… disappeared after they were caught? Without a single trace or follow-up of their punishment?”

“Didn’t they… serve their sentences and get released…?”

“Is that what the kingdom’s telling everyone now? Really…” The man’s eyes narrowed dangerously at Alba, and he couldn’t help but shrink back slightly. “What _is_ the world coming to… Well, go ahead and sit there in your cell if you still believe that. See you.”

“W-Wait!” Alba stretched an arm out, managing to grab the man’s sleeve as he turned to go. “Were… Were you serious about earlier? You said you came to save me?”

“Hm? Oh, that was a joke.”

“That’s terrible! But… But please…” He tightened his grip on the fabric. “I don’t… really know anything about the world. And I-I don’t know if what you said is true or not… It seems really hard to believe. But if there’s any chance that it’s true, I want to find out for myself!” Alba shouted desperately, feeling resolve well up in his throat. “So please help me out of here!”

There was silence for a long moment. The man had his face turned away, leaving his expression a mystery to Alba, and he could only plead fervently in his mind—

“Fine then. Stand back.”

“Huh? UWAH!” Alba was thrown backwards as something exploded in his face, filling the room with smoke and bits of flying rubble. He coughed and waved a hand in an attempt to clear his vision, looking up to see the silhouette of the man standing over him. Beyond the man, the remains of twisted metal were the only indication that there had been bars. “What… did you do?”

“Just a little magic,” the man said cheerfully, throwing the ring of keys off into the distance, and Alba couldn’t help but wonder why he had even brought the keys in the first place. The man extended a hand to Alba, dragging him to a standing position by the collar of his prison uniform. “Well then, er, Prisoner No. 45 was what it said outside your cell, I think…”

“My name’s Alba!”

“Prisoner No. 45 Alba then. Nice to meet you. You can call me Ros.”

“Leave the first part out of it!”

“First, a disclaimer.” An unexpectedly serious expression on Ros’s face drew Alba’s attention, and he looked up nervously. “I take no responsibility for your life, your actions, or whatever might happen from here on out. If you slow me down, I’ll leave you behind. If you get in my way, I’ll kill you.”

“K-Kill?!”

“It’s a harsh world out there,” Ros said flatly. “And of course, you should be thinking the same thing. That you’ll do whatever you need to survive. That you’re prepared to end other lives to keep your own. Including mine.”

“But you saved me…”

“So what? You’ve shown me just how stupid you are by asking me to help you out of here, not even thinking of the possibility that I could have just wanted to kill you. You’re no threat to me.” Ros blinked, and tilted his head in a deceivingly innocent gesture. “Well? Would you still like to come with me?”

Alba swallowed hard, feeling his hands shake and sweat drip down the sides of his face. He had never been more frightened.

But he had never been surer of a decision.

“Yes. I would.”

The corners of Ros’s mouth lifted upwards. “Good. Let’s go.”

Scrambling after Ros as the other man turned away, a question still burned at the forefront of Alba’s mind. “H-Hey, Ros… Why were _you_ in jail?”

Ros turned around and beamed at Alba, a brilliant smile lighting his face.

“Mass murder.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably won't be continued. Well, maybe.


	10. Chapter 10

(Part 1 – Ros)

The routine was becoming a nuisance, since he never actually made any progress. But nevertheless, after checking once more for sure that the hero and Ruki were fast asleep, Ros pulled out a pen and several sheets of paper, built up the campfire a little higher, and stared at the blank white pages.

It was more difficult than he thought, to write a farewell letter.

He remembered the first time he had attempted to write one, before they had met Ruki. Knowing that their journey couldn’t last forever, Ros thought he had better at least leave the hero with some sort of notice. A full explanation would not be needed, of course, just that due to unexpected circumstances, he would no longer be able to accompany him…

 _To Hero No. 45, Alba Fruhling_ , was how that letter had started out.

He had thrown the letter away not long after that.

So night, after night, after night, crumpled sheets would litter the area around Ros as he struggled to put words to paper. And this night was no different as he tossed another ball of paper aside in frustration, rubbing his eyes. Perhaps it was time to give it up for now. He could try again another night.

“…Soldier?”

Ros jolted as the hero’s sleepy voice sounded, and he looked up to see the boy yawning widely. “What’re you doing?” Alba mumbled, half-lidded eyes glancing over the wads of paper without really seeing them. “What’s that?”

“Nothing,” Ros lied, scooping the balls of paper up and dumping them into the slowly dying fire. The flames flared up again at the extra fuel, eating the paper away hungrily. “Go back to sleep. It’s still early.”

“’Kay…”

Waiting for the hero to fall back asleep, Ros let out a small sigh, and glanced at the burning papers. Well, he still had time.

He caught sight of one of the letters that he had not crumpled up completely, the words at the top of the paper still just barely visible for a moment before the fire crackled, sending a small shower of sparks over that letter.

_Dear Alba and Ruki—_


	11. Chapter 11

(Part 3 – Alba, Sion)

“Sion.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

“I see.”

“…”

“…Hero.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Nothing at all.”

“Ah.”

The sound of Sion flipping a page in his book reached Alba’s ears as he shifted into a more comfortable position, a covert grin spreading across his face at the comfortable weight of the other man’s back pressing against his. Alba bent over his paper to continue scrawling out a series of long calculations, mellow relief flooding through him with every steady heartbeat that was not his own.

Leaning farther backwards to accommodate Alba’s movement, Sion idly wondered when this back had grown _so_ broad and closed his eyes. Alba was always warm, and Sion couldn’t help but turn his cheek to that warmth with a soft exhale. Knowing that the hero wouldn’t see, he smiled faintly into the orange jacket.

_““Good. He’s right here.””_


	12. Chapter 12

(Part 3 – Alba, Foyfoy)

“So those are your students, huh?” Alba commented happily, looking over the crowd of children swarming around Zwei and Ruki as they lectured about something or another.

“That’s right.” The blond man yawned, leaning against the other side of the jail bars and crossing his arms. “Only six of the brats, but they’re sure a handful. I have no idea what the king was thinking, making a Hero Academy and all that.” Foyfoy adjusted his decorative glasses, gesturing vaguely to Alba. “You’re still around, after all. And barring some unfortunate incident, you’re probably more than enough if something crazy happens to the world again.”

“Please don’t jinx me.” Laughing nervously, Alba rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve got a while to go before I’ll be useful again though. I mean, my magic isn’t completely under control yet. But there’s nothing wrong with more heroes! …Come of think of it, the king gathered 75 of us to be heroes in the beginning, right? Wow, it doesn’t seem like it happened that long ago.”

“Kind of pisses me off that it’s partly because of His Stupidity that everything’s all sunshine and rainbows now.” A scowl found its way across Foyfoy’s scarred face. “Not that he did anything, anyway. He doesn’t count.”

“The king’s not really a bad person,” Alba defended half-heartedly, but the memory from over a year ago still made his blood boil. “He’s just a little… yeah.”

“It’s funny, though,” Foyfoy said suddenly, glancing over to Alba. “The king picked us to be heroes. Saviors of the world, the people’s stars of hope, stuff like that.” The corners of his mouth lifted in a wry, almost bitter smile. “But the two of us, we were heroes who would have let the world burn, don’t you think?”

_I’m not going to save the world! I’m going to go get my friend!_

_It’s precisely because she’s my sister._

“Heroes… who would have let the world burn, huh?” Repeating the words in a quiet mutter, Alba looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling. “…I don’t think you’re wrong.”

“…Well, maybe not _you_ ,” Foyfoy amended, smirking slightly. “You ran around on the king’s orders for a year, after all.”

“He _thinks_ I did,” Alba corrected. “But they were just something I did along the way.” His tone was light, but Foyfoy started at the strangely dark words and whirled around to face the imprisoned hero in the cell. Alba blinked, and for a heart-stopping moment, Foyfoy thought he had seen a flash of bright red.

Alba tilted his head innocuously, tapping a finger to his chin. “I’m pretty sure I would have, though,” he said finally, smiling at Foyfoy with deceptive serenity. “Let the world burn, or something like it. That was a good way to put it. But I don’t think you would. Not really.”

Foyfoy stared. The useless glasses slid down the bridge of his nose, but he made no effort to correct them.

At last, he chuckled. “Maybe you’re right.”


	13. Chapter 13

(0verse – Crea, Sion)

“Shii-tan. _Shii-tan._ ”

Sion jolted back to awareness at Crea’s quiet call. Dimly, he realized he was still clutching the blade, sticky red liquid splattered over the hilt and his violently trembling hands. There was the sensation of viewing everything from far away, a mere spectator, numb to the movement of his own body and deaf to the sound of his own voice.

“C-C… Crea…” The name came out hoarse and strangled, as if something had leapt down his throat and lodged there. He couldn’t quite swallow.

“It’s over, Shii-tan.” Crea’s deep blue eyes, usually sparkling vibrantly with life, seemed tired. “It’s okay. It’s over now.” Lifting the younger boy’s hands, he began gently prying Sion’s fingers from the sword one by one, ignoring the blood smearing over his own. “It’s over,” he repeated firmly, but not unkindly.

The bloodstained sword dropped to the dirt with a loud _clang_ , metal shrieking as it bounced once, twice, and then stopped at last.

And Sion collapsed to his knees beside the weapon, staring blankly at the small puddles of red forming underneath even as Crea wrapped his arms around him. “I… I stopped him,” Sion muttered. “He destroyed half the world… And would’ve kept doing it. So I… I…” His functional eye widened and he pushed Crea away, breathing rapidly. “Crea— Crea, what… What did I just do…?!”

Crea grabbed Sion’s shoulders, squeezing hard. “You saved him, Shii-tan,” he said fiercely, shaking his best friend slightly. “That wasn’t uncle anymore. The uncle we knew… and loved… never would’ve done all of this. You said it yourself. It’s not anyone’s fault. It’s not.”

“But—”

“Shhh. You’ve done enough, Shii-tan.” Crea shook his head, angry tears brimming in his eyes. “We can figure things out later. But it’s over. And… you can cry if you want.” He hugged Sion again, tightly, and Sion felt something, many somethings, small and warm and wet, spotting his back.

 “…Stupid. You’re the one crying, aren’t you?” Nevertheless, Sion brought his arms up to rest upon the older boy’s shaking back, and buried his face into Crea’s shoulder.

His left eye ached.


	14. Chapter 14

(Pre-Part 3 – Sion, Ruki, Crea)

“I have a little sister now.”

Sion blinked once, twice. Crea’s eyes widened until she was sure they would pop out of his head, but he was the first to make a sound.

“A little sister?!” Crea yelped, bouncing with excitement. “Seriously?! That’s awesome! Congrats, Ruki!”

“Congratulations.” Regaining his composure at the sudden surprise, Sion let the tiniest of smiles form across his face. Ruki nodded politely at the two men, but the air of discomfort from the girl did not escape Sion. “What’s wrong? You don’t seem very happy about it.”

“N-No, I am! I really am!” Ruki protested, wings flapping agitatedly. “It’s just…” She bit her lip and wrung her hands within the oversized sleeves, apparently struggling to find words. “I don’t know how to be a big sister.”

“Ah.” It was small moments like these that reminded Sion of Ruki’s true age, a child of eleven. Almost twelve now, if he remembered correctly. Many, many things had forced her to act far beyond her years, much too early, and it was strangely relieving to witness her worried about something much more mundane. “Well—”

Crea interrupted rudely. “Leave it to me!” he shouted, pointing a thumb at his chest and winking cheerfully at Ruki. “I know all about being an older sibling! Just ask Shii-tan and—” A pause and a look of confusion, appearing to be on the verge of uttering another name, but the moment passed quickly enough. “Just ask Shii-tan! I’ve been looking after him since he was a ba-ARGH!” Crea doubled over as Sion jabbed a fist in his abdomen.

“Crea. You’re disqualified.”

“Huh?! Was this a competition?!”

“Quiet.”

“Ow!”

Ruki giggled a little, but as if Crea’s antics had sparked an idea in her brain, she straightened and bopped a fist into her other hand. “That’s it!”

Sion looked up without taking his foot off Crea’s back. “What’s it?”

“Ros-san!” Ruki moved closer to tug at the short sleeve of his jersey. He ignored the way her arm extended much farther than normal. “Be my little brother!”

He blinked once, twice. “What?”

“Just for practice,” she insisted. “I want to learn to be the best big sister I can, so I need someone to practice on!”

“Why not Crea?” Sion prodded the aforementioned person with his foot. “He doesn’t act his age anyway.” Ruki shook her head.

“Crea-san said it himself. His experience is with being an older sibling, not a younger one.”

“…Sure. Then what about hero? He’s younger than I am.”

“I don’t want a prisoner for a younger sibling! It won’t be a good influence on my little sister!”

“That’s true.” With his options whittled down to nothing, Sion sighed and resigned himself to the inevitable. “Fine then. You can practice being an older sister on me.”

“Yay!” Ruki jumped and hugged him tightly around the waist. “Thank you, Ros-san!”

“This is only for a little while,” Sion warned, trying not to think about the warm flush he could feel creeping up the back of his neck. “By the way, your sister…”

“Oh yeah! Her name’s Lympic, but everyone’s calling her Lym,” Ruki chirped, looking proud. “She has Papa’s blond hair, and really pretty blue eyes. Her favorite food so far is egg tarts.”

“…How old is she, again?”

“A couple days old.”

“…”

“The Demon World’s scary,” Crea remarked.


	15. Chapter 15

(Continued from previous chapter – Sion, Ruki)

“What is it you’re worried about, though? I’m sure there isn’t some manual to being an older sibling.”

“You’d laugh if I told you, Ros-san.” Seated next to him, Ruki scrunched her face up in a pouty scowl.

Despite himself, Sion chuckled a little. “Come on now, who do you take me for?”

“Ah! There! You laughed at me already just now!” Thumping her sleeve-covered fists against his arm, Ruki looked positively indignant with her cheeks puffed out. “That’s no way to treat your older sister!”

“Ah, yes, yes, I’m sorry.” Sion fended off her half-hearted blows, amusement flickering across his eyes. The little Demon Lord was more easily riled up than usual, and while it was a different sort of fun to tease her than a certain hero, it was fun nonetheless. But perhaps it was time to take a step back. “So, you said you’d like to practice. How exactly would you like to do that?”

The girl blinked, her mouth opening slightly. “I didn’t think that far yet.”

“Well, what do you think siblings usually do?”

“They… spend time together.” She frowned slightly. “We already do that though, Ros-san. Except you’re usually the older one.”

 _…I_ am _older though_ , Sion thought bemusedly, but he pressed on with the leading questions. “And what do I usually do when we spend time together?”

“Um, I suppose you’ve bought us ice cream and treats like that. …Oh!”

“There we go. You don’t have to think of anything special to be a good older sister.” The unusually gentle words washed over Ruki as she listened, wide-eyed. “If you just think about what we’ve done before, but do them especially with your sister, that’ll make it special, won’t it? Do things together that she enjoys, and she won’t ever forget it.” He thought for a second, before Ruki’s words from earlier floated into his mind. “You said your sister likes egg tarts. So you should—”

“Buy her some egg tarts!” Ruki finished, her eyes glimmering with possibilities. She stood up, reaching eye-level with Sion, and tugged at his arm. “Ros-san,” she said brightly, with coyness reminiscent of a playful kitten, “Would you like to get some cream anmitsu?”

Sion smiled then, taking her hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. “It’d be my pleasure.”

“You’re forgetting something!”

“What?”

“I didn’t hear you say it!”

“…It’d be my pleasure, big sister.”

“Good! …Ros-san, do you really think I can do it?”

“Of course you can. So just do your best, big sister.”

* * *

“By the way, you never mentioned why you were so worried.”

“…Promise you won’t laugh?”

“I won’t.”

“ _Promise?_ ”

“Y-Yes, I promise.”

“…Papa complains whenever I go out for even a little while. So if I’m not a good older sister, Lym will tell on me to Papa if I try to sneak out sometimes.”

“…Hah.”

“Ros-san!!”


	16. Chapter 16

(Part 1 – Alba, Ros)

“Ow ow ow,” Alba whimpered, pressing his hand to his upper left arm. Small rivers of blood trickled out relentlessly from underneath his glove, and Alba went pale. “S-Soldier…”

“Stop moaning. It’s only a cut.” The soldier’s voice was as cool and steady as ever, but Alba thought there was something frantic about Ros’ movements as his older companion searched through their bags. “Goodness, we could have avoided all this if you hadn’t gotten in the way.”

“I-I thought you didn’t notice the monster sneaking up on you…”

“Sneaking up on _me?_ Even if that were the case, there were infinitely better ways to grab my attention than jumping right behind me. You’re lucky that only the monster grazed you. I could have taken your head off if I hadn’t stopped in time.”

Alba winced. “It… seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“At the time. _At the time_ , you say. Please tell me where you keep your brain, hero, I’ll go and fetch it immediately. Or better yet, maybe we’ll find a deal for a better one in the next town.” Whirling around with a roll of white bandages in one hand and a bottle of disinfectant in the other, Ros motioned irritably for Alba to sit down on the grass. “Is it still bleeding?”

“I-I don’t know?”

“Good. Now turn around and don’t look.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Okay…” Turning away, Alba stared at a nearby tree instead, wondering just what the soldier had in mind. He felt Ros move his hand aside and trembled at the sensation of warm blood flowing anew from the cut. “S-Soldier, was that a good idea—”

“Quiet.”

“Yes sir.”

The area around the wound suddenly felt unusually warm, and out of the corner of his eyes, Alba glimpsed a faint white light. Curious, he turned back, but only saw Ros pouring disinfectant out onto a cloth. “Huh? What was that light just now?”

“What light?” Ros replied shortly without looking up.

“I thought…”

“Are you having hallucinations now, hero? Strange, you didn’t lose quite that much blood…”

“I’m not!” Alba craned his head to look at his arm, but much to his surprise, there was only dried blood around a fairly clean, thin cut, even though he was sure blood had still been running from it merely seconds ago. “I-I guess it stopped bleeding after all…”

“Yes, it’s a relief, isn’t it?” Ros held up the disinfectant-soaked cloth. “On three. One, two!”

“AUUUGH!” Alba yelped in pain and attempted to squirm away, but Ros had a vicelike grip around his wrist. “Ow! I thought you said ‘on three’!”

“I lied. Please keep still, hero.” Expertly tearing a long strip from the roll of bandages, Ros wound it around Alba’s arm many times, so tightly that Alba was afraid he would wake up in the morning to find that his arm had fallen off. “There. Keep it dry and it’ll heal up in the a few days.” The soldier punctuated his last word with a light slap on the bandage, not quite enough to hurt, but enough to make Alba wince again.

“T-Thank you.” Inspecting the dressing, Alba couldn’t help but marvel slightly at the impeccable work. His own father was a doctor, but had rarely been around to pass down his medical knowledge. _I wonder how many times Soldier has done this before. Is he used to it?_ He looked up to where Ros was putting items away with his back turned, and took a deep breath. “And… thanks for worrying.”

Ros paused for only a moment before he resumed his task. “It would look bad if the hero I was assigned to died of something as small as a paper cut,” he said at last.

“I-I think it was a bit bigger than a paper cut.”

“And,” Ros continued as if he had not heard Alba, “thank you, too. I suppose.”


	17. Chapter 17

(Part 1 – Albatrossruki)

“…So no one has ever actually seen this man.”

“W-Well, no—”

“Alba-san, where does he get the money for all these gifts?”

“He has a bunch of assistants called elves who make them—”

“Slave labor!?”

“No! They’re all happy to work for him!”

“How do you know that, hero? What if they’re all just conditioned to seem that way?”

“T-That’s not…”

“And he just goes into people’s houses without knocking! Even if there’s a lock! What about people’s privacy, Alba-san?!”

“It’s only on Christmas, so everyone knows he’s coming!”

“Ros-san… the human world really has no sense of danger…”

“They’re willing to allow a complete stranger into their homes… And drop off suspicious packages in large socks for whatever reason…”

“They aren’t suspicious packages! They’re supposed to be gifts to celebrate the holidays!”

“Celebration? Ah, I see…”

“…I can tell what you’re thinking and I’m telling you right now, bombs are not good celebration presents!!”


	18. Chapter 18

(Post-Part 3 – Alba, Salt)

“…Ah, we’re out of erasers.”

Reaching over to a nearby drawer, Alba pulled it out only to find it empty. “Huh? Where’d they go?”

“Um,” Salt interrupted nervously, adjusting his glasses. “I don’t keep anything in there.”

“…Oh!” Coloring slightly, Alba pushed the drawer shut. “S-Sorry, I’m just used to knowing where everything is…” He waved a hand frantically at the younger boy in apology. “I didn’t mean to be rifling through your things either.”

“It’s okay, I don’t have anything I wouldn’t want anyone to see here.” A curious and mildly apprehensive expression suddenly crossed Salt’s face. “Uh, I know that the monthly magazine mentioned that you—” He muttered something inaudible that Alba couldn’t quite hear, yet for some reason he felt a sharp need to retort. “But I-I don’t really consider this place to be my home, you know.”

“I don’t either!!”


	19. Chapter 19

(Post-Part 3 – Lake, Sion, Cecily)

“La—big brother, it’s time to wake up.”

“Lake-chan, if you don’t hurry and eat your breakfast, you’re going to be late!”

“Here’s your lunch.”

“Tell us when school is out, alright?”

“Yes, yes, I’ll take you to see hero and Salt later today.”

“Concentrate in class today!”

Armed with his backpack, lunchbox, and an umbrella (“It looks like rain!”), Lake cast a grin over his shoulder as he strode out the door. “Mom and Shii-tan are really in sync!” he called cheerfully, laughing as he darted off. He knew exactly what sort of faces in matching bright red they were making.


	20. Chapter 20

(Post-Part 3 – Ruki, Lym)

The gentle creak of her bedroom door opening made Ruki stir, and she lifted her head with bleary eyes, rubbing at them as she yawned. “…Lym? Is that you?”

She heard a faint sniffling sound and bolted upright, traces of sleepiness disappearing in an instant. “Lym!”

“S-Sis…” With her usual black beanie missing, Lym’s tousled golden hair stuck out in all directions. The wings nestled among the spikes lay flat and unmoving upon her head. “I’m okay,” Lym mumbled, but reddish eyes and shaking shoulders told Ruki otherwise. “Can I stay with you?”

“Sure.” Ruki pulled back her blanket and moved aside, patting the space next to her. Lym crawled in and drew the covers tightly around herself, still shivering slightly. “What’s wrong?” Ruki asked gently, only sweet concern in her voice.

Lym shook her head, but her eyes filled with tears again. “I-I dreamed about it…” she whispered, so quietly that Ruki had to scoot closer to hear. “I was trying to find Papa with Sochi-chan and the others… And then we found Janua-san. And then when Janua-san helped us find Papa…”

 _Ah_ , Ruki thought.

“Papa was… Papa was…!”

“Shhh.” Enveloping her younger sister in a hug, Ruki patted Lym’s back soothingly. “Papa’s okay. Teufel-san kept him alive, and brought him back. He’s okay now.”

“It was my fault!” The outburst startled Ruki, and she realized that this was at the core of Lym’s fears. “If I hadn’t shown up, Papa wouldn’t have…!”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Ruki said fiercely, hugging Lym even more tightly. “Papa knew what he was doing. It’s not your fault at all, Lym.”

“…Even if you say that…”

“I know.” She thought of the many, many times, during the long year with Alba, that she had felt like nothing more than a burden and a silly, useless little girl. It had been hard to believe Alba’s assurances that she was needed, when she spent night after night bandaging the wounds that could have been avoided if only she hadn’t been in the way, or if only she had been able to use her gate more effectively.

Despite the bittersweet memories, Ruki smiled a little at Lym. “It doesn’t really ever go away, the feeling that it’s your fault when something bad like that happens,” she whispered, stroking the spikes of Lym’s hair. Lym blinked at her with a watery gaze.  “But because Papa’s still here, and because everyone’s here, it’ll feel better, someday. Maybe not soon,” And the faces of two very silly people flashed through her mind, “but one day, you’ll learn when it’s about time to forgive yourself a little, for things you couldn’t do anything about.”

Lym’s hand reached out to grab her sister’s, the combined warmth seeming to seep throughout her as she considered Ruki’s words. “Someday,” Lym echoed sleepily, half-questioningly.

“Someday,” Ruki promised, and pulled the blankets over them both.


	21. Chapter 21

(Pre-Volume 3 – Alba, Sion)

"I had a dream," Sion said suddenly, flatly, avoiding Alba's eyes as he stared intently at the textbook in his hands—though he did not seem to be reading it. "Where I woke up after sealing Rchimedes, and got to travel with a silly hero-wannabe and a ten-year-old Demon Lord who lost her parents. Where a stupid hero managed to defeat Rchimedes and save Crea, somehow. Where I got to travel around the world with Crea, and visit that stupid hero once a month because he got his hands on some magic he can’t control-”

“It wasn’t a dream.”

His friend went very still.

“It wasn’t a dream,” Alba repeated firmly. “Crea-san’s safe, you two are traveling around the world, Ruki has her family back, and your stupid hero is stuck on a problem his sadist teacher gave him.” As if that settled the matter, he dashed off an answer on his paper and leaned back in his chair to face Sion. “How could it be a dream? Are you still half-asleep, Ros?”

“…I might be,” Sion admitted, grudgingly, but the hard edge to his voice was gone, like ice melted in sunshine. Nodding in acknowledgement, Alba nonetheless gave a slight smile.

“Just give it time,” he continued. “And don’t worry. Even if all this is a dream, I’ll always come to wake you up.”


	22. Chapter 22

(Post-Volume 3 – Sion, Lake, Cecily)

[candle]

“The electricity’s out! The electricity’s out!”

He heard his older brother’s much too excited voice from somewhere to his far left, and then a subsequent crash. “Ouch!”

“Lake-chan! What are you doing?!” And then there was his mother, scolding in that warm voice of hers. “Sit down, and don’t move! Sion-chan, are you still in front of the sink?”

“Yes.”

“There are some candles underneath, can you get them?”

He found them easily enough and lit one, a mild sense of wonder, not for the first time, at the identical pairs of bright red eyes turning in his direction. 


	23. Chapter 23

(Volume 3 – Janua, Teufel)

[peach tea]

“Haah…”

The great sigh that slipped out (more than likely on purpose) did not escape Janua, and he looked over. “Are you alright, Teufel-san?”

“Working is tiring,” the former butler mumbled from over the top of the shovel handle he was leaning on. “Why did that maid send me here…”

“Come on, don’t say that.” An idea struck Janua, something that might help motivate his lethargic partner. “Wait just one moment!”

He returned shortly, holding a glass filled with a light-colored liquid. “Some refreshing peach tea, squeezed straight from my very own orchar- _he’s asleep standing up!?_ ”


	24. Chapter 24

(Post-Volume 3 – Hime, Alles)

[high heels]

“Alles! _Alles!_ ”

“Mmph?” Looking up from her glass of wine, the head maid glanced around for the owner of the familiar voice. At last, Alles spotted Hime beckoning frantically from behind a pillar and made her way over. Quite steadily, she was proud to say. “Oh, Hime-chan. What’s up?”

“My shoes are killing me already!” the princess hissed, lifting the many layers of her long skirt up to reveal that she was barefoot, and with an unpleasant-looking blister on her right heel. “I knew I couldn’t last this long! I don’t have any pockets, so can you throw them somewhere?”

“Ehh? They’re such nice heels though.” Alles lifted the shiny pink shoes by their straps, examining them. “Kind of a waste to throw them out.”

“Then give them to someone, or put them to good use somehow, I don’t care.” Hime leveled a glare at the heels, as if she could set them on fire simply by staring at them. “I just know I never want to see these things again.”

“Roger that, princess.” She turned away, and out of the corner of her eye saw Hime hurrying in other direction, undoubtedly to sneak away and grab more comfortable footwear, only to bump ungracefully into a certain scarred ex-butler. Grinning, Alles strode away with a whistle.

Come to think of it, hadn’t there been a cat with a fondness for high heels?


	25. Chapter 25

(Post-Volume 3 – Dezember, Guilty Justice)

[chance]

When Dezember awoke, the first thing he became aware of was that every inch of his already aching body had been bound tightly in bandages, He could not even turn his head to grasp his surroundings.

From above, an unwelcome face—similarly dotted with squares of gauze—peered down at him, and Guilty Justice beamed with innocuous joy. “Darling, you’re awake!”

“Release me at once,” Dezember hissed, despite the hoarseness in his throat, raw and searing. “What do you want?”

A brief flash of hurt in the woman’s expression, before she smiled and squared her shoulders. “I’m making sure my darling gets the best care possible, of course!” Justice answered, even as her fingers nimbly unraveled the various knots scattered about Dezember’s bindings. “But I suppose I might’ve overdone it a bit,” she admitted sheepishly. “In any case, I’m so glad you’re awake, darling! Don’t you worry about a single thing! I’ll cook all the meals, change your dressings, do your laundry, plan our—”

“…Why.”

“Hm?”

Ignoring the twinges of pain, Dezember raised himself to a sitting position and tore off the remaining bandages with his free arm and tossed them aside. He wished for the comfort of a shadow to mask his face, but it seemed unwise to expend energy on magic at the moment. Nevertheless, he leveled a dark glare at Guilty Justice, who had sat back on her knees, and repeated the question. “Why? Why did you save me? I want nothing to do with someone who won’t swear allegiance to our great Demon Lord, or has no interest in devoting themselves to ensuring the Demon Lord’s happiness!”

The tidal wave of grief that had overcome him some hours earlier suddenly resurfaced at his own words, but less violently. Instead, it had dulled to a persistent ache in his chest, and Dezember found himself crumpling the front of his clothes in a tight fist, grinding his back teeth together. He looked aside, unable to stand what was surely Justice’s pitying gaze.

Though if he _had_ been looking, he would have seen that her eyes were full of nothing but compassion.

“Darling, darling, darling.” He heard a long, long sigh, and a rustle of movement. Suddenly, Dezember found his head pressed to something soft and he started, before realizing that Justice had wrapped her arms around the back of his neck.

“…Unhand me.”

She ignored him, instead running a gentle hand down his back. “Demon Lord this, Demon Lord that,” Justice said at last, very softly. “That’s no way to live, don’t you think?”

Dezember growled in mixed frustration and annoyance. “What do you think we were created for in the first place?”

“You know what I think?” For the first time he could remember, there was no trace of frivolity in Justice’s words despite her warm tone, and Dezember could not help but listen. “The Demon Lord may have created us, but I think because of that… We can be allowed to live for ourselves, you know? Darling’s existence… is proof that the Demon Lord was a very, very sad man. So if we learn to make our own happiness… I can’t imagine anything more rewarding than that.”

Releasing her hold, Justice smiled as she took hold of Dezember’s hand, and gently pried the tightly balled-up fist open.

He wondered, why, he did not feel the inclination to push her away.

“So? How about it, Dezember?” His name, spoken in her voice for the first time, half affection and all sincerity, as she lifted his hand and brushed her lips across the back. “Will you let me make you happy?”

An unfamiliar burning sensation enveloped his ears, covered the back of his neck, pooled in his face, and Dezember wrenched his wrist out of Justice’s relenting grip. “…Not that anything good will come out of it,” he muttered grudgingly. “But I will allow you… an attempt.”

Guilty Justice beamed.

“Then let’s start planning our wedding, darling!”

“ _I said nothing of a wedding!_ ”


	26. Chapter 26

(Pre-Volume 2 – Alba, Ruki)

[armor]

“…It doesn’t fit anymore, huh?”

“Nope, doesn’t look like it.”

Alba winced as he struggled to undo the buckles that held the plates of his armor together. He had no idea how he had managed to link them in the first place, but the moment he had done so, he immediately realized that he couldn’t breathe.

“Whew!” Pulling the armor piece over his head and letting it drop to the ground with a _thunk_ , Alba inhaled a lungful of much needed air. “I thought fighting was getting harder for some reason lately,” he muttered, thoughtful, “but it wasn’t until just now I realized it’s because of this thing.” He prodded the armor with his foot, and it rocked sadly back and forth. “We’re kind of tight on money right now though… I don’t know if I can afford to buy some new armor…”

“How about you don’t?” Ruki suggested, hopping off the bed she had been sitting on. “Maybe you can try fighting in a different way! Armor’s never seemed to help you in the first place anyway, Alba-san.”

Alba thought about it, and with an unpleasant shock, realized that Ruki was right. “Armor doesn’t help with the gate…” he mumbled. “It only covers the upper part of my chest, so my ribs aren’t protected at all… Monsters always seem to only aim for that or my head…” He groaned, and gave the armor another kick.

Ruki scrutinized him closely, and then, apparently having come to some sort of conclusion, gave a solid nod. “I don’t think armor suits you, anyway.”


	27. Chapter 27

(0verse – Rchimedes, ~~Cecily~~ )

_“Dear, what are you doing? It’s far past time to wake up.”_

Rchimedes awoke to the sound of her laughter.

Sion and Crea were nowhere in sight—but nothing else had appeared to change other than his location. He found himself in a wide stretch of blank white space, devoid of any objects or environment but an oddly thick fog.

“Cecily.” Taking a step forward, the fog immediately rose to stream about his legs, and he nearly stumbled at the strange weight added to his movement.

“Cecily, Cecily.” He repeated her name numbly, turning his head every which way, but could not see for the fog that continued to swirl all around, as if in an attempt to smother him. Yet her bell-like laugh was still ringing in the air, growing more distant with every step he took, no matter the direction. “Cecily, come back. Don’t leave me, Cecily. Cecily—”

“Where are you?”


	28. Chapter 28

(Volume 3 – Sion)

_“Don’t you dare look at people’s lives on the surface, and pity them as you wish.”_

_“…’That so?”_

When he looked at it objectively, he could see how people would make the same assumption Elf had. In a word, his life so far had certainly been unusual.

But the last word he would ever use was ‘pitiful’.

The everyday, strange, enjoyable things he had been able to experience, the precious people he had been able to meet—to call it all such a thing, was an insult.

 _Me? My life, pitiful? I, who met Crea, who met Ruki, who met_ him _, all the people who saved me, and he has the nerve to call it pitiful?_

The nonsensical, ridiculous thoughts that he could not seem to put out of his mind whirled around and around even as he floated back to consciousness and became aware of a familiar, striped figure in front of him. Tremors of pain were spiking up and down every inch of his limbs and he was fairly sure it was blood that was running down his face, dripping into eyes he could barely keep open, yet even so—he could not help, but chuckle faintly.

“Haha… Why are you making such a face?”

_Here now, look. You see?_

_I have someone, who will always come, no matter when or why. How could you call me pitiful?_

_My life has been blessed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My interpretation of a bit of Sion’s inner monologue following what happened that chapter. I’m kind of fond of this one.


	29. Chapter 29

(Volume 2 – Foyfoy)

[stationary]

He had had enough.

A year he had spent at this blasted castle so far, and the infuriatingly slow progress he was making was more than he could take. Not enough work, not enough money, not enough time—not enough of anything, to save his sister.

Except, for one thing.

The castle’s defenses had always been ridiculously lax, the soldiers easy to distract, and it was most certainly not a sigh of relief he breathed when he slipped into the treasure room to find it empty. Killing anyone left would have made much more of an uproar, after all, and was more trouble than it was worth. So Foyfoy scooped the dice into his pocket—

But oh, of course she had to be there, and he did not find himself surprised at all.

She could stay. In fact, it was far better for her to stay. In her infinite kindness and humility despite her privileged upbringing, surely, she would be a worthy hero of her own story, always fighting for all that was good and just.

But he could not, and would not stop.


	30. Chapter 30

(Pre-Volume 3 – Crea, Ruki (Alba, Ros))

[rainbow]

“Ruki-chan, Ruki-chan, did you know? They say that if you find the end of a rainbow, you’ll find a pot of gold!”

“Huh, really!? That’s so cool! That sounds almost as good as what they say you’d find at the end of a rainbow in the Demon World!”

“What? What would you find?”

“Papa told me that there’s a huuuge stack of Fanta, all in different flavors, and a rainbow is created when they’re all shaken and explode!”

“Seriously!? That’s amazing!”

(Alba) “…T-The Demon World sure is something.”

(Ros) “…I should have explained to Rchimedes what Fanta is.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually upload in batches of ten, but the thought of doing ten at once again makes me groan. These will still be uploaded to tumblr when I get ten though, I guess.

(Post-Part 3 – Sion, Cecily)

[genetic]

“Oh my, are you going out?”

Jolting slightly, Sion looked up from his small stack of papers to meet a matching red gaze. “Ah, no... I’m preparing some supplementary notes for hero—that person wearing orange you met before,” he added hastily, “for the next time he goes to tutor Salt.”

“Ahh, that orange one.” Cecily nodded in recognition, pulling out the chair across from him and seating herself at the wooden table. “He mentioned that you were the one tutoring him before, is that right?”

“Something like that.”

A soft laugh escaped Cecily’s throat, and she leaned forward with her elbows on the table, chin resting on her clasped hands. “You have a good head on your shoulders, Sion-chan. You must get it from him.”

Sion found himself averting her eyes as a sense of warmth crept into his cheeks. “It’s nothing so impressive.”

“Lake-chan always comes home with high scores on his tests too,” Cecily continued cheerfully, reaching over to her side and lifting a tall stack of several binders. “For instance…!”

_W-Where was she hiding those…_

* * *

“It’s this late already!” Having glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, Cecily stood, pushing her chair back. “Lake-chan will be back from school soon, and I need to start preparing dinner…”

It only took a split second to decide, but longer to realize what he was doing. “I can do that,” Sion said suddenly, standing up. “You said we were having stew, didn’t you? I know where everything in the refrigerator is.”

A brief flicker of surprise crossed Cecily’s face. “Oh my, are you sure?”

“You can sit and rest.” A pause as he moved into the kitchen, searched for the plain apron hanging on a hook, and tied it. “…Mother.”

There was a brief silence save for the clattering of kitchen utensils and opening of drawers, and it wasn’t until he was preparing to cut a carrot that Sion noticed Cecily hovering at his shoulder, a pleased smile stretching from ear to ear. “I’ll leave it to you then, Sion-chan.”

“…Yes.”

He sliced the carrot with deft strokes, scooping them into a bowl with one hand while reaching for an onion with his other, and repeated the motions. At his side, Cecily watched with rapt attention. “You’re quite good at this.”

“It’s not anything impressive,” Sion muttered. “I can do this much. He was always helpless with cooking and household chores, so I was always the one—” The words had spilled out before his thoughts could catch up and he fell silent all at once, swallowing hard.

But there was only his mother’s laughter and nod of agreement. “Well then,” she said lightly, and Sion thought she suddenly looked very young. “This must be from me.”

“...You think so?”

“Yes, definitely.”

“I see.”


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A mental, metaphorical representation of Part 1 -> Part 2. It's probably symbolic or some shit............ I think. Maybe. No, there's not really any deeper meaning.

(Part 1 -> Part 2 - Alba, Ros)

There was only a single door before him, hanging slightly ajar. He shivered a little as he walked through the doorframe, rubbing his exposed arm. The armor had not held any special meaning when he bought it, but for the first time, he became acutely aware of the loss of its protection.

The view that awaited him on the other side was one of pure white, a stark contrast to the world he had just left. If he squinted though, the dark silhouettes of some trees—perhaps apple trees, as a guess—and the outline of what seemed to be a temple loomed in the distance. He smiled, a little wryly. Back to where he deserved to belong, and he pressed his back against the door to close it.

No sooner had the lock clicked shut than an achingly familiar, curious voice rang through the door, and he froze.

“Ros, Ros, are you there? Can you hear me?”

“Hero?”

“Aha! You’re there after all.”

He felt his back teeth grinding together. “Why are you here?”

“What do you mean by ‘why’?” The sound of a fist pounding gently against the door, and then the metallic shaking of the knob. “Hey, open up. I can’t see you.”

A brief surge of panic washed over him, and the feeling reminded him vividly of the time he had let a bird go and desperately tried to hide it. Why did he think of such a childish memory now? “Nothing good will come of following me here, hero. Please leave.”

“Don’t be silly. Come on, let me in.”

“Please don’t come through here. This side will not be kind to you.”

The doorknob rattled once more. And Alba’s voice again—but it had changed. Deeper, stronger, infinitely gentle and filled with a steady confidence that he had not heard before. “That’s not true. How could it be?”

“…Hero?”

“How could it not be kind, with you there?”

With an echoing click, the door swung open.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to get back into writing... This is one I've had almost finished for a long time and I finally made myself write the rest.

(Pre-Part 3? - Hime, Ruki)

[princess]

“So you’re going to be queen when you grow up, right?”

“Um, I suppose so.” Anxiously twisting a strand of golden hair around her finger, Hime looked down. “I’m the only child of the royal family right now, so I’ll ascend to the throne when my father decides to retire.” An uneasy feeling shuddered down her spine. “I don’t know if I should be hoping he doesn’t for a long time, or if I should convince him to do so sooner…”

“I think you’d make a great queen, Hime-chan!” Ruki chirped, waving her sleeve. “And with Foyfoy-san helping you out—”

Hime spluttered. “F-Foyfoy!? What are you bringing him up for!? I mean, we’re not… We haven’t even…!”

“Huh?” Ruki tilted her head, and the black wings on her head followed the movement. “Aren’t you two engaged?”

“E-E-E- _Engaged!?_ ” The word ended on a high, oddly-pitched tone, and Hime felt a hot flush racing to her cheeks. “We aren’t!” Her inner self strangled the presumptuous ‘ _yet_ ’ before it could escape her mouth. “H-Has Alles been spreading stories again!?”

“Umm, on my way here, I heard her telling some of the other workers about paying something up.”

“Ooh, that woman…!” Forcing herself to retain composure, Hime took a deep breath and released the unfortunate stuffed animal she had been clawing into. “We’re not engaged. T-that’s still something we haven’t… Anyway, I don’t have to be married to take over the throne. My father was surprisingly lenient about that.”

“Queen, huh?” A dreamy expression crossed the little Demon Lord’s face. “That’s so cool though!”

It was Hime’s turn to tilt her head in curiosity. “What are you so impressed about? Aren’t you the same, Ruki-chan?”

“I’m the Demon Lord!” Ruki replied, her wings waving indignantly. “That’s different!”

“E-Eh? What’s so different about it? Your father’s the ruler of the Demon World, so he’s king in a way, right?” A thought struck Hime, and she clapped her hands together. “That makes you and Lym princesses, doesn’t it?”

“Princesses…?” Stunned at the notion, Ruki’s eyes widened in starry wonder. “I never thought about it like that! Princesses!”

“And eventually, someday, when both of us take over,” Hime continued, “let’s make the human world and the demon world on friendly terms again. So that no one will ever feel lonely that they can’t visit their friends properly from the other worlds again!”

For a second, the younger girl gaped, but almost as quickly threw her arms up in excitement, undoubtedly thinking of her own handful of human companions, Hime thought with amusement. “That sounds great, Hime-chan!”

Mischievous smiles spread across their lips at the same time, and they shared a secretive giggle.

“Looking forward to it, Demon Lord Ruki.”

“Same here, Your Majesty!”


End file.
